Ron Paul Compares His Rivals to Shih-Tzus

Ron Paul mocks his GOP presidential rivals in a new ad today that likens them to yappy little dogs when it comes to cutting the federal budget.

The cartoonish 30 second ad which starts airing in Iowa and New Hampshire compares his rivals to shih- tzus who “love to bark, but when it’s show time, they whimper.”

“You want cuts, Ron Paul has been screaming for years, ” the ad states.

The cornerstone of Paul’s plan involves $1 trillion in cuts to the federal budget in the first year, accomplished in part by the elimination of five federal agencies including Energy, Commerce, Education, Interior, and Health and Human Services.

Today’s ad, titled “Big Dog” is the latest in a long line of mostly biographical ads that Paul has been airing in Iowa and New Hampshire since July. Other ads have highlighted his medical background and veteran status.

Although Paul’s budget has been lauded by both conservative political commentator Rush Limbaugh and Iowa’s Gov. Terry Branstad who called it “the boldest plan to reduce the debt,” the framework has been dismissed by several of Paul’s GOP rivals.

Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker, labeled the plan “a non-starter.”

“If you come to me and tell me I need to lose 30 pounds and you’re going to amputate my right leg, I think it’s a non-starter, ” Gingrich told the Quad City Times.

Herman Cain, who bowed out of the presidential race this past weekend, hinted that Paul’s drastic approach to budget cutting won’t work.

“If you listen to his positions on a lot of things, it’s always, ‘Let’s throw out the baby with the bathwater,’” Cain told CNN.

In addition to the elimination of the federal agencies, Paul would achieve $1 trillion in spending cuts by eliminating all foreign aid and wars, and dialing back spending to 2006 levels.

ABC News has learned that the “Big Dog” ad is part of a $429, 000 ad buy in Iowa an New Hampshire starting today through December 20.

That number includes $121,000 on statewide cable in Iowa and New Hampshire on networks ESPN, GOLF, HIST, and NESN. The number also includes $53, 000 in radio ads in Iowa and New Hampshire.